Maybe it’s time we shattered the epitomes of motherhood that we have created… take down our mothers from pedestals that we have built over the years…erase the tales of sacrifice, of valour that have been told and retold…
Without diluting all the goodness that mothers bring to this
world, without disservice to the years of unconditional love that mothers give
their children as a second nature..can we paint them as human first and simple
women next without the wings that burden their flight?
Let our mothers and ourselves as mothers just “be”…be the human
they are, with their own dreams, characters and selfish needs, taking as much
as giving, being enough in their own ways….and stop the pontification….
Media, movies and more are replete with the heart-warming
images of mothers who starve to fill a child’s tummy, who burn their hands to
save their offspring, who sleep last after the family’s needs have been well
taken care of…can we change the narrative to the mothers who walk with the
fathers and provide a child with a “home” and a family? A bond that binds,
strengthens and grows the children into humans…to let them fly high, experience
their own highs and lows, learn their lessons as much as they can learn from
their parents and create a cocoon that they can always come back to when they doubt,
fail or crumble?
The ‘completeness’ that motherhood is so tied with is
sometimes an overrated literary imagery…yes motherhood introduces you into a
world unknown…where you stumble, crawl and stand up and chart out a journey
that is unique between each mother and child…a part of life that defines and
changes you…but as you give more, you also grow more and get to know yourself
more…but it doesn’t mean you chisel away in parts such that you do not
recognize the person you are at the end of this journey..
Can we keep ourselves honest to the aspirations, needs and
desires that we have – motherhood or not? Can we take that extra slice of chocolate
cake without guilt, can we indulge in that self-pampering moment keeping aside
all your ‘motherly’ duties aside, can we chase our dreams in isolation without the
legends of sacrifice that we want to take part in?
When we let our mothers flow their natural course, where
they are not forced into ill-fitting super mother costumes that was tailored by
‘what people think’, where they choose their own rides, where they decide their
‘stop’ , their ‘wait’ and their ‘go’ – motherhood would take a whole new
meaning..
